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Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
If you want to cry or sigh
Don't forget to just drop by
If you ever stray afar
there is always Angelstar :)

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!~

A little too late, I know..but it's only 2 days ago...hehe...
Anyway, just wishing everyone a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!!
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Did you all had a feast on the mooncakes and also playing around with lanterns?

I spent my night in the office and also a brief celebration with my friends and jee mui...but didn't really join in much since I ended up on the phone with Mummy, Daddy and Uncle:D

Will be posting some mooncake pics in my food blog and also a write-up on the overall festival in my Starry blog

Will remember to post this festive wish earlier next year:p
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Sean's Birthday

On a happier note,I have an update on one of my colleagues' birthday earlier this month which I organized and threw him a surprise party:)
Yeah, I am becoming a party organizer and birthday coordinator now:p
*Next will be my boss's birthday:)*

Okay, so to the birthday cake...I got a very unique cake from this nice cake shop...(been scouting the island for decent cakes...and since he requested for low calories cake...haha!)
I found this brightly coloured cake which caught my eye; a deviation from the normal chocolate birthday cakes or mocha, etc.
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It's a Mango Cheese Cake!!
Isn't it a nice colour?:D

Birthday Boy delivering his birthday speech...."Thank you for organizing....bla bla bla"
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Delighted with the cake; and the melodious birthday song sung by all of us *winks*
*This was the first time he had a birthday celebration thrown by friends as he has been studying overseas for the past few years and most of the time, he was alone.
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Cake cutting ceremony
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See, even he is fascinated by the cake - he couldn't stop snapping photos of the cake!! LOL!

A piece of cake for everyone
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Not bad; delicate and not too sweet....

Group photo!
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Happy Birthday Sean! Hope you will have many more of such birthday parties to come:D

Help..so TIRED

Sorry I haven't been updating my blog lately as I was really way tooooo busy!!
I haven't been getting sleep and I am so tired!
I work around the clock each day; barely getting past 5 hours of sleep and at night, I only managed to run home to a quick shower and bites before making my way back to the office for another round of work and practice meetings!!
I am really burnt out!

To top off that, I am also being bogged down by lots of other issues spinning around my head; besides my HECTIC work schedule!
I am so so so tired; when can I rest?
When can all this end?

*I am still busy at this point but I just missed writing and blogging so much and decide to take a quick break to write and at the same time looking at my screen to check through my documentation and work stuffs!!*

What's wrong with this picture?
I don't wanna be such a workaholic but I am really tied now!!!
Help...:(

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Harmony:)

I just realized I forgot these pics I took during my last trip down to KL for Merdeka when I was in 1U:D
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I was doing some window shopping with Mummy when we actually heard the sounds of some musical instruments and we sort of approached the center arena to take a peek at the concourse area.
I was surprised by the harmonious picture I saw; these people on the stage performing; Malay, Chinese and Indian.
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They were all playing their traditional music instrument according to the song played.
For instance, when it was Rasa Sayang, all will tune to play to that song on their own instruments.
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Sounds weird?
You will be surprised by how harmonious the music blend together!:D
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This is what I called Harmony and peace; one of the things Malaysia is proud to boast of that the multi-racial society can sit down together:)

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Scary Dream!!

Why do people have to send me gross stuffs in emails?
Why do my mind have to be so determined in memory to store those pics and remind me later at night when I am trying to rest?

Awwww...I was so traumatised by the sight of that gory sight....something of worms and stuffs growing and I was just so bothered...I thought it was over until I dreamt of it last night!!!
YEWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!
I was so stricken but yet I was in such deep sleep and I only woke up this morning and I was still so traumatised by it!!!!

Man, am I truly losing my mind?
I know I have been bothered lately and really, a little unhappy...and this is getting to my sleep...
But I am just slowly catching up on my sleep and now, I realized that my fears and worries are really bothering my inner mind....
I am scared of something ....I didn't write down my dream interpretation this time, I know what it means...and I have to admit it's really true...:(
Sad but I think it's true....

Tsunami Alert

I was lying on my bed last night after completing my work (okay, I was working after office hours!)
I was about to put my mind to rest when I received a call from someone who surprised me; an old friend I haven't heard from for some time.
I was wondering whether I should use his real name but decided to follow bestie who used a pseudonym for him in her blog...haha, so ToughGuy called:)

It was really kind of him to call and to inform me of the tsunami warning issued following the quake in Indonesia and that people were warned against the seaside areas.

I even asked a silly question,
I am staying near Queensbay area; is that considered seaside?
Yes

Guess anytime past my bedtime really caused me to be so blurrrrrrr:p
And I really wanna say a BIG THANK YOU to ToughGuy....really remind me of how great my friends were...

Today, a quick browse through The Star online already showed several headlines on the tsunami warning
Penang seaside spots cleared for fear of tsunami
Quake felt in Malaysia
(CORRECTED)- OFFICIAL - Indonesia says 2 dead, 11 injured in Quake
Tsunami warning withdrawn

Still, THANKS THANKS to ToughGuy for the concern!!
It feels great to know that there's always great friends around whenever I am down:D

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

End of 7th Month

Yesterday marked the last day of the Hungry Ghost month and it was really a relief for most of the superstitious people as it was deemed as an inauspicious month for most of the plans such as weddings, moving house, birthdays, celebrations, etc.
However at the same time, it was not so for the other world as they usually bid a sad goodbye through the torrent of rain which showered Earth every year at this time of their departure from their loved ones; or so as my granny used to tell me.
You can read more about the festival here; I have just completed the write-up article on this interesting month:)

Monday, September 10, 2007

Happy Gathering!:)

It was a great time for everyone to meet up; with the opportunity of this engagement of our old friend:)
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I truly loved all these pics:)

An Indian Engagement

Following the invitation of our fellow colleague who also happened to be one of our good friend in our GPTW fun gang, we headed off to Ipoh last Saturday in 4 cars ferrying the troop of 16 of us to attend his engagement ceremony and also to take the opportunity of touring Ipoh town.
Although only half of the gang arrived earlier for the Ipoh tour, the rest of us made it to join them for a meal at Old Wong Bean Sprouts Chicken later in the evening.

Led by Jlo, our tour guide who hailed from the same state though from different town, we found our way to the Hindu temple which was located in Tambun.
To me, it was totally a new experience since this was the first time I attended an engagement party. I have attended an Indian wedding ceremony before; one of my Standard 1 and my favourite teacher of all time when I was very young:)

We almost lost our way there but finally we reached the temple after passing by a church, a mosque and even a Buddhist temple!! But undeniably, we did go on a mild goose chase following our guide!
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We reached there at a good time; just right before the commencement of the ceremony:)

The view of the temple
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At the main entrance of the hall next to the temple; the place where the engagement ceremony will be taking place.
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The main temple
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And this is our friend; Shiva the groom :)
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He was definitely beaming and truly elated as he greeted us with such a welcoming smile upon our arrival:D
We were definitely the only group of Chinese and Malay at his engagement:D

There was a crowd which gathered at the main hall of the temple as well
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Of course, we headed there to check out the commotion as well:)
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I was fascinated by the sight of the glittering items greeting me as I approached the side of the concourse area at the temple.
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It seemed that these items were gifts which will be presented to the bride and are offered by the groom as part of the engagement process prior to the wedding.
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The engagement ceremony is one of the ceremonies to be held at least a few months preceding the wedding and during this time, the bride and groom will exchange gifts with each other.

It is still a common practice in the Indian community to seek arranged marriages; where the parents will still intervene in finding their life partner and deciding on the right person for their offsprings. The boy and girl will then be allowed to meet and if they like each other, the date of the engagement and wedding will then be set.
According to the Indian custom, there will be a few prevailing ceremonies prior to the wedding but the engagement ceremony will be viewed as the most important since it marks the initial point of the marriage.

Gifts from the groom can mount up to 51 items as the maximum.
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These include gifts in the form of sweets, chocolates, garments, accessories or whichever items deemed appropriate by the groom to be presented to his future wife.
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The gifts will be placed on trays which will then be carried by the groom's family to be blessed before the presentation to the bride.

The groom's family and relatives are now getting ready to proceed to the hall with the gifts.
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Led by the sounds of the drums and also musical instruments,the troop from the groom's family formed the line of congregation who will slowly march towards the hall for the presentation of the gifts followed by the groom.
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At the entrance of the hall
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The groom's family presented the gifts and placed them on the stage centre where a holy man sat and chanted prayers over the gifts.
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Towards the end of the prayers, the groom will make his way up to the stage to await the arrival of the bride; or his fiancee.
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The bride appeared soon after; to receive the gift of the garments upon which she will return to the room again to change into the new garments given to her by her fiance.
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She was a stunning beauty who had such beautiful and delicate features:)

During this time, as the bride left the stage to the changing room, there will be servings of the sweets and goodies from the groom's family to the guests as a token of appreciation for their attendance.
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The first one was this Sweet; coated with peanuts and sugar...according to my friends, it was REALLY Sweet!:p
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This was the sweet glutinous rice in brown sugar:)
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How can they resist taking photo of themselves to steal some limelight from the focus of the night?:p
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The bride; fully clothed in the new garments and also with garlands, descending from the stage.
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The bride joined the procession from her family to head to the stage to join the groom again to acknowledge the gifts presented and also at the same time, for the exchanging of the gold rings.
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After the exchanging of rings, the elders from both families will take turns to anoint them with their blessings. The married elders will then mark the pottu (dot) on their foreheads; the red ones to mark their union.
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And we also took the opportunity to convey our heartiest congratulations to the new couple on their engagement...
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But of course, since all of us were singles, we are not allowed to mark the dot on the couple's foreheads.

The gifts on the stage
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After the ceremony, the guests were invited for the dinner banquet prepared by the hosts.
It was truly an eye-opener for me as I learnt much more about the Indian customs in marriages.
It seems that there are 16 ceremonies one must go through in their lifetime and marriage happens to be the 13th. In this important ceremony(engagement), the bride and her family will be taking charge of the logistics and also the arrangement of the entire ceremony. The groom will only be handling the gifts and presentation.
Therefore, it is no wonder that the crowd at the engagement ceremony was made up of more than 60% from the bride's relatives and family compared to the 20-30% from the groom.
However, the wedding ceremony would command an equal attendance from both sides.
An interesting knowledge gained which again, highlighted the colors of the multi-cultural society:)

Angel